Posts tagged ‘women’

This weekend, March 10th and 11th 2018, the rather excellent EFLtalks is hosting two days of talks with 24 women presenting. Each talk is 10 minutes long, with 10 slides only. Here’s the blurb from the facebook page:

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!!! To celebrate, we have put together two days with 24 of EFL’s top Women from around the world with 10 in 10 presentations – “Inspiring Women of ELT.” We have many prizes and special surprises lined up so don’t miss out. It’s free!! Join us Saturday and Sunday for the biggest Women’s Day Event on the web and be inspired!!

I’m very grateful to Rob Howard for organising this, and very proud to have been asked to participate. I will, of course, be talking about ELT Playbook 1. I’m really looking forward to finding out what these other wonderful ladies have to say. I’ll see you there!

Seeing my social media explode today in what I really hope and feel is a step-change in the way our society treats women and the way those women think about themselves and their relationships with others, both men and women, has prompted me to finally write a post I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

I organise teacher training at my school, and encourage and support women and men to be part of them.

I own my own flat.

I’m independent.

I’m confident.

I very rarely worry about what other people think of my decisions – they’re mine, not theirs.

I work hard to be the best person I can be.

I try to help other people whenever and however I can, though I often feel like I could do more.

I try to think about my impact on the environment, though I also feel I could do more here.

I travel alone without thinking about it.

I go to the cinema alone without thinking about it.

I eat at restaurants alone without thinking about it.

I swear. It is a normal part of my speech. I don’t have a problem with hearing other people swear when it is appropriate to the situation. I think about the people who I’m around when doing so.

I’m (now) happy with my body. It took work. When I catch myself now, I can stop those thoughts. They almost never come now.

I enjoy choosing clothes. This also took work, and was directly related to the point above.

I never wear make-up, after trying it a few times and deciding it wasn’t for me. I don’t feel this is a problem. Or that it should be. (Though I did once buy lipstick – when I asked for help because I’d never bought lipstick before, the woman in the shop said ‘You poor thing’.) I believe this should be a choice, and that men should be allowed to wear make-up if they want to.

I am good at using computers and other technology. I understand the basics of HTML.

I am good at maths and mental arithmetic.

I used to describe myself as being into a lot of ‘male’ things: fantasy, sci-fi, science, games, computer games, ‘nerdiness’. I no longer believe they are male and that I am unusual as a female for enjoying them. They are mine.

The fact that I’m a woman doesn’t generally make that much difference to my life, at least in terms of my decision making.

I know what I want from my life, and yes, that does include having a family at some point. But a family that is shared. I expect to be in an equal partnership, if I have a partner.

I’m white, I’m British, and I was born in the European Union. I know this gives me an advantage in many arenas. I can’t change any of those facts, but I can use them to try to help others. I can also remember that I’m nowhere near the most downtrodden or underrepresented population in the world. Not by a long way.

Most importantly, I’m happy.

But…

I don’t remember ever seeing or reading about ‘me’ in popular culture. (Please prove me wrong in the comments.)

Creeping towards balance, check. (And with a minor mention of it in reviews…I hope this is the norm one day, but we still need to celebrate when this is achieved at the moment to make others sit up and take notice.)

It’s not to say I don’t enjoy that culture. I do. But I never see myself there, single, not chasing a man, would like children, 30s, professional. But I guess my story isn’t interesting for film-makers, reviewers or readers.

According to the line that culture is throwing at me, I’m over the hill and should definitely have settled down with a husband by now. I know I’m not, thanks to my friends.

I should most definitely have had more sexual experiences than I have, says the media. Why yes, that would be nice. But sex shouldn’t define me, or any woman, and nor should the lack of it.

So what now?

If you think that harrassment and bullying should be a thing of the past, visit ELTtoo. (I’ve been on the receiving end of institutional bullying, instigated by one person, and causing problems for both women and men in that institution. I left. They didn’t all have that freedom, though I believe most of them have gone now a few years down the line. The institution still exists and the same people are still running it. As far as I know, none of us have really said anything about it publicly and nothing has really changed.)

If you are a woman with a facebook account, the Women in ELT group may be of interest to you.

If you are of either gender and you’re organising a conference or event, or are a woman who wants to start speaking at them, have a look at Women Speakers ELT for more information and support to run more gender-balanced ELT events.

My (e)books

30 tasks for new teachers to help them learn to reflect on their teaching, as well as build up an online community. Also great as a refresher for experienced teachers, or as session prompts for trainers and managers. All for just £5/€5.50 - less than the price of a cinema ticket! (self-published)
Also available as a paperback from Amazon for £6.99/€7.86.
What are you waiting for? Get your copy today!

A collection of techniques for adapting speaking activities. Click the image to read more and to find links to purchase it for less than 1 USD a copy! (Published by the round)

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#eltpics

#eltpics is a collection of photos, based on a weekly theme, taken by ELT teachers, trainers and writers from around the world.
These are, in turn, available free to others in the field of ELT under a CC license to use in their classroom and on their non-commercial materials.
Anyone interested in joining in can tweet an image with the hashtag #eltpics, and it will then be added to the #eltpics Flickr group.
For a more detailed explanation of how to join in, please see this post.
For ideas on how to use some of the photos, visit the eltpics blog.
It was nominated for an ELTons award in 2013.
You can see the last 10 photos uploaded to the site below:

Quizlet

IATEFL Manchester 2015

Amazon Affiliates (EU Associates)

Sandy Millin is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.